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Ben Hogan

Ben Hogan

Age: 84

one of the greatest golfers ever to play the game; career numbers include 63 victories (second to only Sam Snead's 81 and Jack Nicklaus' 70), nine major championships, four U.S. Open titles and the only person to ever win three professional grand slam events in one year; overcame tremendous odds to become the legend he was; witnessed his father commit suicide when he was a child and neared bankruptcy many times as an adult; shattered his legs in a 1949 car/bus collision; was told he may not walk or live again; struggled back and won six of his nine major championships after the accident; although his legs limited him to only seven tournament appearances a year, he still managed to amass 13 more tournament victories; discovered golf as a 15–year-old caddie at Glen Garden Country Club where he lost the caddie championship in a playoff to another boy his age named Byron Nelson; turned pro at 17 and joined the tour full-time as a 19–year-old in 1931; by the age of 33 he was the top player in the world, earning nicknames like “Bantam Ben” and “the Hawk” for his stoic, small stature and ferocious play; of complications following a major stroke